Destiny Rules
by jazztransformsme
Summary: 2007 Movieverse/G1 inspired/Pairing - Hot Rod has arrived on earth, answering Primes call for help. A rookie robot on his own can mean only trouble or so his fellow 'bots thought.
1. Contact

A sudden thump in hi spassenger side panel quickly pulled him ou t of recharge

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's Note:** This story starts during Chapter 5 of Bold Destiny. This is what's happening on earth while the Autobots are elsewhere. Plus this gave me an opportunity to write a story involving Hot Rod. This story may get a little crazy with some fluff. Please leave a review. Thanks.

* * *

"**Contact"**

* * *

Banachek sat in his office reading through some papers when he was interrupted by the call on his phone. He pressed the speaker button, "Banachek here."

"Sir, we have detected the Autobots leaving earth's air space," said the agent on the other end.

"Have you tried contacting them?" Banachek asked with concern.

"Yes, but we were unsuccessful. Sir, we've also detected six new alien arrivals. Five landed in the northwestern section of Colorado and one landed near the northeastern section of New Mexico," the agent added.

"Assemble a recon team, then report to me directly when visual contact has been made at both locations. If you can avoid it, do not engage," Banachek commanded. "And let me know when you've made contact with the Autobots."

"Yes sir," responded the agent.

Banachek sighed with exhaustion as he sat back in his chair. Keeping track of all these alien robots was proving to be more difficult. He worried over the new arrivals and whether their intentions were good or bad.

* * *

Once he landed, Hot Rod transformed and scanned his surroundings. He needed to find an alternate mode for his protoform quickly. The message, he received from his fellow Autobots here on earth, said this would allow him to blend in with the inhabitants of the planet without alarming them.

It was late at night in the sleepy town of Cimarron, New Mexico. Hot Rod inched his way quietly through the town, hidden only by an occasional large building or tree, searching for something to replicate; but the town seemed abandoned. There wasn't a single human or vehicle in sight.

Suddenly, the roar of engines broke the peaceful quiet, and he quickly took shelter behind the nearest building. Several dark vehicles sped up the street, in a single line. They slowed, once they neared the building he hid behind and pulled up in front of its entrance. He scanned the vehicles to determine their models but had trouble finding any sort of defining information on their outer shells. He zoomed in with his optical night vision and discovered the vehicles were wrapped in some sort of strange black material; every inch of them was covered right down to their wheels.

He waited as the humans exited the vehicles and went inside the building. Quickly, he scanned the nearest vehicle for his alt form, deciding that if it couldn't be found, then it would be the perfect fit for blending in with his surroundings. Once he finished his scan he looked down at his now bright red and purple body. Orange flames fanned out across his chest plates.

"Cool," he said, smiling silently.

After walking a fair distance from the human colony, he transformed and sped west down the road. He knew where he had to go, and that he had to get their quickly. His energon supply was limited and if he didn't reach Prime and the others in time, he'd be easy prey for the Decepticons.

For the first several hours he found the scenery to be fascinating as he took in the parched dry desert he traveled through. But after awhile he grew bored.

'_Is this all this planet has to offer_?' he wondered.

To pre-occupy his time, he tapped into earth's network and found this planet to be very different from Cybertron. The organic life here was intricately connected, in a sort of 'food chain', and if any piece were to be broken, it would upset the whole balance of this planet's delicate organic infrastructure.

As the day wore on, he grew tired. He had been driving for hours and the heat of the desert was beginning to take its toll. His engine grew hot and he was in dire need of a recharge. He would start wasting his precious energon reserves if he didn't find a place to stop and rest soon. Hot Rod had opted for traveling a less traveled highway in order to limit his contact with the humans. And according to his map this road had a small refuel station several miles ahead.

Down the dusty valley he sped, red jagged cliffs jutted up into the clear blue sky. Suddenly, a twinkle in the distance caught his attention. It glittered on the horizon like a beacon guiding him to safety. But as came closer, the sparkling object formed into one of the few human refueling stations along the road.

He scanned the small building on his approach to determine if any humans were present. Luckily it was empty, with the exception of one human located inside for assisting in providing fuel to the customers. He pulled off the road into the parking lot. The station contained four pumps under a protective shelter, close to the road. Beyond the pumps, in front of the store were marked parking spaces for resting cars, with additional parking spaces at either end of the building.

Hot Rod decided to park on the far side of the store away from its main entranced to avoid being disturbed. He left an empty spot between him and where the sidewalk curved around towards the entrance, so he wasn't directly visible to exiting humans. He figured most humans would park right in front, do what they needed to and leave. Once he was settled, he switched on his security sensors and drifted off into recharge.

* * *

A sudden thump, on Hot Rod's passenger side panel, jolted him out of his stasis nap. All his systems came online with a low hum, scanning his parameter for the violator.

A vehicle now sat parked next to him containing one human occupant. His sensors scanned the vehicle and then accessed earth's internet, finding a match. Information ran through his CPU, producing results that he could understand, _'2006 minivan, one human female, 5'4", age and weight unknown._'

His inner computer seemed to be limited. Although, he could determine her weight by picking her up, he still would not be able to determine her age. He briefly thought of Ratchet and all his abilities. He longed for his fellow Autobots.

Next he scanned the surrounding area to determine if this human was the only new arrival. She wasn't. He picked up another vehicle located directly in front of the buildings entrance. There were four males leaning up against the front of an old beat up white, 1980s model, Mercury Grand Marquis.

Humans made him nervous. He had been linked into their world wide web of connected servers, gathering as much information as he could, regarding earth and its inhabitants. Their network infrastructure was quiet extensive for a race that behaved in such a primitive manner.

Another thump caught his attention, however this time it was softer. He could hear the female mumbling to her self.

"Oh shit" and "oops, sorry" came in quick sequential order.

The female squeezed out of her car, brushing up against Hot Rod, before carefully closing her door. She paused briefly next to him and ran her fingers along his side. It sent a strange sensation through his neural network of sensors. He was relieved when she finally stopped.

He watched her walk towards the front door of the gas station, her light covering flittering lightly about her exposed legs, as she made her way passed the group of males.

The males made all sorts of strange noises and odd movements. Hot Rod scanned the internet and quickly determined that the males were emitting some sort of mating call. These types of behaviors were typical of young immature males, whose hormones were reaching their peak developmental phase.

"_Interesting_," he thought to himself.

Ten earth minutes later the female came out with a large cup of fuel in one hand and her bag of necessary items dangling from the opposite shoulder.

Her vitals indicated nervousness as she once again passed in front of the young males. This time they not only continued their annoying mating calls but started to follow her. Her heart rate shot up.

"Oh no," Hot Rod mumbled.

He knew this wasn't going to end well. He had, so far been able to avoid transforming. But this group of males could cause him to do otherwise. His CPU was working over time as he analyzed the situation, looking for possible alternatives to handling the group.

All he came up with was, '_that when in packs males can be aggressive and cause lots of trouble.'_

'_Oh great_," he thought to himself, annoyed.

The female was clearly terrified at this point. She quickened her pace in order to reach her vehicle before the group of males could get to her. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful.

Just as she stepped down between Hot Rod and her minivan, the closest male grabbed her arm. With a jerk he pulled her back onto the sidewalk and forced her around to Hot Rod's driver side. This prevented her from escaping and brought her out of the view of the front of the store.

The male holding her arm, forcefully bent her arm behind her back and shoved her forward on to Hot Rod's front hood. Her cup of fuel splashed across his shiny painted finish.

'_That's cold! _M_aybe that's not fuel after all. They'll pay for that one,_' he thought to himself, now irritated over the spilled liquid on his exterior and their treatment of the female.

The female let out a scream as the young man slammed the side of her face down onto Hot Rod's metal surface with a thump. She struggled but was no match against a group of males. Another male moved in to help hold her down.

"Stop, please!" She cried out.

"Shut up bitch. You know you want some," growled the male holding her arm. He twisted her arm harder, forcing her to scream out in pain as he reached under her dress and freely groped her.

Hot Rod couldn't let this go any further. With deft movement, being carefully of the humans, he transformed.

The humans scattered in all directions causing Hot Rod to loose track of their locations in accordance to his feet. He lifted one foot, to step back, but heard the female scream just as he was about to set it down. He froze, precariously balanced on one foot while he searched the ground below for the female and the four males. But he could only stay suspended for so long. Just as he started to loose his balance, he brought he foot down in an effort to catch himself. He felt and heard a sickening crunch of metal and steel. He knew instantly what it was.

He briefly looked up as the car with the four males fled out of the gas station parking lot with a deafening screech. Once they were gone, he focused his attention towards the female who now lay sprawled out, on her back, in the parking lot between him and the gas pumps.

Her terror filled eyes met his blue optics, before they moved down the length of his body and coming to rest on the crumpled metal beneath his large steel foot. Hot Rod followed her gaze down to where his foot was firmly planted on what was left of her minivan.

He let out a nervous mechanical chuckle, "I'm sorry about that." He put his hand out, as if he were asking traffic to stop.

He lifted his foot off her smashed minivan before giving it a shake, attempting to dislodge the few pieces of twisted metal that still clung to it. After stepping aside, he looked down at the mangled and flattened minivan. Hot Rod turned his attention back to the female, who had now sat up.

"I'm so sorry about your vehicle. I didn't mean to do that," he said apologetically.

He walked slowly over to her, being careful not to frighten her further, and knelt down in front of her. She shrunk back in fear.

"Easy now, I'm not going to hurt you. Please do not be afraid," he said soothingly.

He gave her a minute to get used to hearing him talk before continuing.

"My name is Hot Rod. What is yours?" he asked. He decided to use the earth custom of introduction. He thought this would further help calm the female and make him appear threatening.

But she remained silent. He noticed that her right hand was blindly searching the ground behind her as she held eye contact with him. He looked over to see what she was searching for, and could see the contents of her bag were scattered out behind her. He scanned several of the items.

'_Lipstick, brand name: Mac, color: Spice it up, Cell phone, sunglasses, wallet: should contain human identification and currency, tampon: used for female menstrual cycle.'_ The last item offered up a multitude of search options, which he marked for further research, when he had more time.

Her hand was very near the lipstick tube. "To your left," he offered.

The woman stopped searching and gave him an odd look. She seemed confused by his comment.

Realizing her confusion he clarified, "To your left is the item you are searching for."

The female broke eye contact with him and quickly glanced behind her. She turned back to him with a nervous laugh before grabbing the small black tube and quickly shoving it in her bag. She scooted backwards towards the other items, and one by one, threw them into her bag. After she had collected all the items, she seemed to be at a loss for what to do next. Hot Rod decided to try his greeting again.

He reached out with his hand and extended his finger, "Are you alright? Those males didn't hurt you, did they?"

This time he was rewarded with an answer. "No." She whispered.

She kept glancing quickly between his extended finger and his face. "Go ahead, I won't hurt you," he urged her, yet again and starting to feel a bit impatient. "Is it not an earth custom to extend a hand in greeting?" He questioned her.

"No…I mean yes. Yes, it is," she stuttered.

Hesitantly, she reached out and placed her hand on his finger. He carefully placed his thumb over her hand before gently assisting her into a standing position. He could see she was trembling and had difficulty standing, so he held on to her hand for a moment longer, allowing her more time to calm her nerves.

"Thank you," she offered as she brushed the dust off her sun dress. "My name is Michelle."

'_A name_, _finally_,' sighed Hot Rod to himself, we are actually getting somewhere now.

"Well Michelle, it seems as though I destroyed your mode of transportation. To make up for my clumsiness I'll drive you to the nearest human colony. Will that be ok with you?" He offered.

"What are you?" she asked, completely disregarding his question.

"I'm an Autobot," he said. "I can explain more to you when I take you to where ever it is you need to go," he added, trying to gently direct her into giving him an answer to his first question.

"Uh, ok then…but first is there anyway to salvage any of my clothes from my van?" she said, looking over at her minivan.

Hot Rod glanced back at the crushed minivan. He stood up and walked over to the mass of twisted metal. Reaching down he pried off its top, revealing a mess of oil covered clothes, the smell of gasoline hanging heavily in the air.

Michelle walked cautiously over to examine what was left of her clothes, while sending the occasional untrusting peak up at Hot Rod. She shook her head and sighed before running her fingers through her long brown hair.

"That's not good. I can't take the chance of wearing gasoline covered clothes," she said.

"Sorry." Hot Rod said again, the guilt getting the better of him. He would do whatever was needed to make it up to the female.

"If you don't mind, before we leave I'd like to run back into the gas station and buy a few things, since we are here. My toiletries bag is underneath that mess and I'm not about to go searching for it. I can do without some things but not others, like a tooth brush."

"Get what you need. I'll wait here for you," he said. Her request of a 'toothbrush' perplexed him but he decided he wasn't in the position to question her needs.

"I'll be changing back into the vehicle you parked next to earlier, so don't be alarmed," said Hot Rod.

"Ok…Sure," she said, in a flat tone.

Hot Rod wasn't quite sure she really understood what he was saying before she disappeared into the store. Her vitals where still slightly elevated but not like before. Maybe she was still in shock. According to his research this earth was relatively untouched by alien life forms and those who had made contact were either worshipped or hidden somewhere away from the general population.

Several minutes passed before Hot Rod began to worry over whether she was actually going to come back and take him up on his offer to help. Much to his relief, she came walking out a short time later. Hot Rod opened his passenger door as she approached. Carefully, she slid in and sat tensely in the seat, holding her bag tightly to her chest.

"Did you get everything that you'll need to sustain you for the trip?" asked Hot Rod in a soothing voice.

"Yes, thank you," she said quietly.

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Oh, don't forget to buckle up," he urged.

"You aren't going to drive at some super fast speed are you?" She asked nervously.

"If you don't want me to then I won't," said Hot Rod. He heard her sigh.

"Good. I'd rather you just drive normal," she said.

"What's normal here on earth?" he questioned.

"Normal is what ever the speed limit sign says," said Michelle. He felt her relax a little bit more into the seat.

"No problem. I can do that," he said. Hot Rod revved his engine before pulling out onto the highway, proceeding at the posted speed of sixty-five.

He gave Michelle a few minutes to get use to riding in him before asking her more questions. He hadn't made contact with any humans yet, so he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, while he had the chance.

"So where are you heading?" asked Hot Rod.

"Nowhere," Michelle responded.

"Nowhere, but you where driving somewhere, right?" He asked, confused.

"No, I was just driving. I wasn't really driving anywhere." She said.

"How can you be going somewhere but be going nowhere?" He needed clarification and quickly accessed the internet on this type of human behavior. It only turned up a definition for the word 'Confused'.

"I was just driving where ever I felt like driving. I know that doesn't make sense to you but I don't know how else to explain it," Michelle said. "I was making my way over to my friend's house in Flagstaff for a visit," she paused after she caught her mistake. "Well, I guess I lied. I suppose, I am going somewhere, at least for the moment."

She was right, he didn't understand but he decided he would take in what she was saying and sort through it after he gathered more information. Eventually, it had to make sense.

"Flagstaff … Arizona." He said out loud.

"Yes, how did you know that?" she asked.

"Well, I have access to your world wide web." He responded.

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Oh great, I bet your finding all sorts of interesting stuff on how we live," she said.

"Yes, I have," said Hot Rod. "It helped me analyze the contents of the bag you are carrying and it helped me determine whether the males where a threat or not."

He felt Michelle shuffle lightly in the seat. "Is everything alright?" he questioned quickly.

"I'm fine, it's just your seat is a little uncomfortable at the moment," she said, shifting again.

"Do you need…," he searched his databanks for the word before continuing, "to relieve yourself?"

He heard a quick intake of breath. "Uh, Hot Rod, Please don't say it that way," Michelle said nervously. "First off, no, I do not need to _relieve_ myself. Second can you just say 'do you need to use the bathroom' or something along those lines…if you feel the need to ask. Otherwise I'll tell you when I need a bathroom."

"I'm sorry," he offered. "If you'll just be patient with me I'll try my best to learn your customs." He could tell he had embarrassed her.

"So…um….what are you exactly?" asked Michelle.

"I'm an autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron and I'm part of a group of elite warriors called the Autobots. I came here after receiving a distress call from my commander, who is somewhere on your planet, and I need to find him before the Decepticons find me." He held off telling her about his limited supply of energon. The information he did provide would be difficult enough for her to understand.

"What's a decepticon?" she asked. Hot Rod went on to explain a shortened version on the history of Cybertron and its warring faction. The more he explained the more tense she became and he decided to stop.

"What's the matter?" she asked, after he had suddenly grown silent.

"I don't want to frighten you, and I can see that I am," he said calmly.

"How do you know I'm frightened?" She asked.

"Because your vitals are elevated which indicates you are nervous or scared," He responded.

"You mean you can tell what my body is doing?" she asked slowly.

"Well, sort of. I can't see into your body, but I can read your temperature, heart rate and rate of breathing," he said.

"Wow, that makes me feel a little expose," she said nervously.

"I'm not sure how to respond to that?" said Hot Rod.

"Just try and not read me too much, okay?" she asked.

"Sure," he said.

He decided that not being honest with her at the moment was a good thing. It wasn't in his nature to not "read" things. That's how he worked but he decided against trying to explain that to her. He was feeling low on strength again. It seemed that his required re-charge modes were becoming more frequent. He needed to find Optimus and the other soon or he'd ended up in stasis lock, or who knows what else.

* * *

Michelle had been driving for weeks now. She had been following the road less traveled with no particular destination in mind. She had started out west before drifting east, following the path of signs that guided her to historical sites or points of interest. Some of these sites offered spectacular views or let to old monuments while other led her down dirt roads to nowhere.

She had turned back west, several days ago to make her way back to Flagstaff, after promising a girlfriend of hers she'd stop by for a visit. As she approached the stretch of desert that crossed from New Mexico into Arizona, she started looking for a safe gas station to stop at. She knew from this point on it was going to be nothing but the repetitive landscape of flat dry desert.

Suddenly, she found what she was looking for. A small gas station appeared up ahead. She slowed her minivan on approach to scope out the place as she pulled in. Being a single female traveler, she had learned to be cautious. Her attention was drawn to the front of the store where a dilapidated old car sat with four young men leaning up against. They looked like a rowdy bunch and this made her nervous.

She glanced around for a safe place to park that was as far from that car as possible, but not so far from the front of the store. As she drove past the young men her eyes caught site of a sleek red sports car with orange flames painted across its hood. The vehicle itself was unknown to her. Being a car lover herself, she was surprised that she hadn't seen a model of this type before.

'_Weird_,' she thought as she drove up to park, '_what would a car like that be doing out here?'_ Whatever it was it looked high end.

She pulled around toward the sports car and noticed a parking spot next to it. She figured better to park next to a nice car than a beat up one. She carefully squeezed her dark blue minivan in between the car and the curb. She sat for a moment assessing the situation, and making note of any necessary escape routes. She had to laugh to herself at her ridiculous paranoia but '_better safe that sorry_' she always thought.

She reached down and opened her door as she reach over to grab her purse. Suddenly, a gust of wind flung her car door open, slamming it into the sports car next to her. Quickly, she reached out, grabbed the door and pulled it shut. She sat frozen in the front seat.

"Oh shit!" she mumbled. "This is not good." She looked up to see if the young men had noticed what had happened.

She glanced out the window, down at the sleek red sports car.

'_I wonder what it would cost to take a dent out of that baby_,' she thought to herself. '_What sort of bad karma would I bring to myself if I didn't say anything?'_

With a firm grip on the minivan door, she carefully opened it and squeezed herself out, pulling her purse with her. After she was out, she gently shut the door before turning around to inspect the damage. She bent down next to the side panel and ran her fingers along its smooth painted finish. There was not a dent to be found.

"Wow," she mumbled quietly. She lingered for a moment longer admiring the cars sleek lines, running her hand along its side as she made her way towards the curb.

She glanced longingly back at the car, before turning her attentions to the young men and the front entrance of the store. Without further hesitation she walked confidently towards the doors. They sent cattle calls and whistles in her direction while she shot the young men an evil glare in an attempt to hide her fear. She breathed a sigh of relief once inside and proceeded to the back to get an iced coffee and a snack.

After she had paid the cashier, she once again put on a face of confidence and exited the store. However, this time the young men showed more aggression. Her confident demeanor melted as she swiftly walked towards her minivan.

But before she could get to the minivan, the harsh grip of a calloused hand wrapped itself around her upper arm. The young man, who now had a hold of her, yanked her back forcefully, directing her to the other side of the sports car and away from her minivan. Her heart raced as she struggled and tried to kick her assailant, but he was too strong. Irritated by her attempt to kick him, he yanked her arm up behind her back while he bent her over the hood of the car, slamming her face down with a loud thump. Her head spun as he pressed up against her backside, with his free hand he freely groped at her from behind.

"Please stop," Michelle cried out. "Help!" she screamed out. But all she received in response was laughter.

Suddenly, with the world spun around her. Sounds of scraping metal and winding gears surrounded her before she fell to the pavement. Turning over on her back, her eyes were drawn to a massive metal figure looming, for what seemed like miles, above her. A scream of terror escaped her while she rolled over and attempt to crawl to safety. She half stumbled, half ran out towards the gas pumps before hearing a loud crash. Startled, she fell and once again rolled over on to her back while glancing up behind her. Her horror filled eyes met those of a giant robot glaring down at her. She trembled uncontrollably with fear as she tried to understand what she was seeing. Her gaze traveled from its flamed covered chest, down the length of its mechanical body, to where one of its feet now rested on the crushed metal remains of her minivan. She sat up to get a better look but was startled when it spoke.

"I'm sorry about your vehicle," it said in a sympathetic male voice.

This caught her off guard, not only because of the male sounding voice, but that it sounded kind. It slowly walked over to her and knelt down before her. She held her breath.

"I won't hurt you. Please do not be afraid," he said again.

When he said he wouldn't hurt her she released the breath she had been holding.

"My name is Hot Rod. What is yours?" he asked.

It was introducing itself to her. '_This is so weird_,' she thought. '_Its name was Hot Rod? That is so weird._'

She relaxed a little more. If he had wanted to kill her, he would have surely done it by now. Either way, she wanted to get out of there. She reached behind, her trying to find the contents of her purse all while keeping on eye on the giant machine. She wanted to be prepared to run in case it changed its mind about killing her. She watched his eyes, which flickered silently, as they watched her. She couldn't tell for sure but it seemed as if something was going on inside his head.

"To your left," he said. She nearly jumped out of her pants when he spoke again.

'_What does he mean, to my left?_' she silently questioned.

He obviously noticed her confusion. "To your left is what you are searching for," he said again.

She quickly turned to look behind her and very near her hand was her lipstick. She laughed nervously as she grabbed it and quickly tossed it into her purse. Noticing her other items scattered out behind her, she decided on collecting those as well. Once she had all her things she turned around to face the giant robot. She wasn't sure what to do next, run or try and talk to it. After all it seemed to want to make contact.

Suddenly he reached his hand out towards her causing her to shrink back slightly.

'_Well I guess we are thinking the same thing,_' she thought to herself.

"Are you alright?" Hot Rod asked. "Those males didn't hurt you, did they?"

'_Oh god, he's the car!_' The connection had been made and she realized what he was.

"No," she whispered, examining every inch of his body.

"It's ok. I won't hurt you. Is it not an earth greeting to extend a hand in greeting?" He questioned her.

His questioned pulled her from her intense examination of his body. "No…I mean yes. Yes it is," she said, slightly distracted.

She reached her hand out and touched his finger. Strangely, his hand felt warm and the surface appeared to be covered with smooth soft material, not metal like she had first thought. He gently lifted his hand, taking his cue she stood with his help. Her legs wobbled from the affects of her adrenaline rush and she found it difficult to stand.

"Thank you," she offered. "My name is Michelle."

She heard him audibly sigh. '_Was he nervous?_' she wondered again.

"Well Michelle, it seems as though I destroyed your mode of transportation. To make up for my clumsiness I'll drive you to the nearest human colony. Will that be ok with you?" He asked her.

Michelle thought about where they were and the current state of her minivan. She didn't seem to have a choice.

"Sure," she shrugged her shoulders.

* * *


	2. Searching for Answers

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's Note:** Ok, finally Chapter 2. It's hard writing two stories that are taking place at the same time. Hopefully I was able to get everything straight. If you notice anything out of place let me know. I've proofed this story till my eyes were crossed so I'm sure I missed a few grammatical errors. Please read and review.

* * *

"**Searching for answers"**

* * *

It was late, very late and Maggie sat at her computer, exhausted yet focused in on deciphering the most recent codes sent from the recent alien arrivals. Maggie and her team had been able to determine that they were indeed Decepticons. Not only had new Decepticons arrived but they were communicating with Starscream. Sector 7 feared the worst and worked feverishly to contact the Autobots.

Maggie reached over for her coffee, she seemed to be drinking a lot of lately, and took a small sip. She had been so focused on her work that when her phone rang she nearly jumped out of her seat. She balanced the coffee cup quickly to prevent any drops of the staining liquid to reach her white skirt before setting it down and picking up the receiver.

"Maggie here," she said, wondering if there had been recent news on the Autobots.

"Agent Simmons here, some medical workers picked up three mine works near Durango, Colorado. From what I hear they were in bad shape and where claiming to have been abducted by their _work equipment_," Simmons said, accentuating the last part.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"It seems we've found our five new Decepticons. The mine workers also said they were taken to the alien's space ship where they encountered giant robots. It seems, Ms. Maggie, that we've found our Decepticon base," he said, victoriously. "I have some more codes sent from that base. We believe they are up to something and we need to find out what it is they are planning."

Maggie's heart jumped. "Mikalea is out there!" she said, the worry evident in her voice.

"She is but we have her location and are currently monitoring her status. We've just sent out an agent to check on her," Simmons responded assuredly. "We also received a transmission a few minutes ago that we believe to be from the Autobots. We believe that the other lone alien arrival is an Autobot and this message was intended for it. We would like to know what the message said. I'm sending a runner down with it now. Let me know as soon as you crack it," he said.

"Fine, but once I've cracked it I want to get out there," she said quickly.

"We'll see," he said hanging up before Maggie could say anything else. He knew Maggie would argue with him if he stayed on the line to long.

Maggie sat back in her chair and sighed. A knock came at her door a few seconds later. An agent entered carrying a small device which he handed to Maggie. She carefully inserted into the machine next to her computer. Pulling her chair up to the monitor and running her fingers through her long blond hair, she prepared her self for the long night ahead.

* * *

The road wound through the rolling hills while parched desert surrounded them on both sides. Michelle sat in the passenger seat looking out the window listening to the hum of Hot Rod's finely tuned engine. They both had grown silent after their initial introduction.

Hot Rod would occasionally scan the area around him as he traveled. Prime had mentioned that they had encountered Decepticons and had warned him to be cautious. He feared that the Decepticons may have seen his entrance into earth's atmosphere and this concerned him. Getting Michelle to her desired location quickly and safely before he ran into trouble was his main objective. Only then could he proceed with his original plan of meeting up with his fellow Autobots.

While they had been driving Hot Rod had been researching the human female and their behavior. He discovered that they were not only caring and more passionate than most of their male counterparts but far more receptive and accepting of new experiences. They lived by a wait and see attitude verses the males, who usually shot first and asked questions later. He silently worked on researching the type of male that would be most pleasing to the female species. Scanning the internet he found several suitable images and pieced together a form that would be unique to him but extremely desirable to the human female.

"Hot Rod, why are you here again?" Michelle finally asked breaking the long silence.

"I'm here to locate my fellow Autobots," he said, '_had she forgotten their earlier conversation?'_

"Oh Sorry, I remember you saying that. Well, how many are there of you here? And are there any of those Decept…whatever you said earlier….here on earth?" She asked.

"Well, there's only one of me but I believe four of my fellow Autobots, including my commander, here on earth," he said. He ran a quick reading on her vitals and everything seemed at their normal levels. He wondered if maybe her lapse in memory was due to the adrenaline rush of the earlier events.

"Are you feeling ok?" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine. I was just going over all that you had said earlier and it was just so much information. It's hard to remember it all… you know?" she said as she gazed out the window again. "Did they say where they were on earth?"

"Yes," he said, stopping short of giving the actual location.

Michelle didn't like the simple answer. "When was the last time you had heard from them?" She asked, feeling braver now that she knew he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Well it was quite a while ago. I believe it was several months ago in earth time," he said, finding it strange that she cared.

"Mmm, that was quite some time ago. Don't you think a lot could have happened since then?" she asked.

Hot Rod noticed a small spike in her vitals as she asked the last series of questions. "I'm not sure but I will find out soon," he answered, hiding the suspicion in his voice. She was a curious young woman he thought to himself.

Suddenly a flash in the side mirror caught her attention. "Uh Hot Rod, Are you going the speed limit?" she asked curiously.

"Yeh, I am. I see him. That's one of your security officers who monitor drivers on these highways," he responded as he began to slow and pull off to the side of the road.

Michelle squinted, staring intently through the mirror at the cop car that had pulled up behind them. The thought that she should move into the driver seat entered her mind. She carefully began to ease herself over the center gear shift but was stopped short by the light pressure of a warm hand as it rested dangerously high on her bare thigh. Inhaling quickly and letting out a yelp she turned to see whose hand it belong too. She sat paralyzed as her eyes met those of a twenty something young man sitting in the passenger seat. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as her eyes traveling slowly down to his soft chiseled lips, then up to his tousled light brown hair and then finally back to the strangers inviting blue eyes. A slight smile rose from the corner of his mouth as her eyes grew wide with surprise and fear.

"Michelle?" Hot Rod asked calmly.

He knew instantly that his research had paid off. Her reaction proved that he had chosen right for his hologram, an upgrade given to him before he left Cybertron. Her vitals had risen considerably, indicating her instant attraction to him. He knew now that he would be able to call upon any female when needed in order to get him to his destination. He would, of course, not abuse this power and only use it when it was safe to do so without harming any humans.

"Who…are…you?" She asked breathlessly.

"It's me, Hot Rod, you can relax now Michelle," he said, giving her thigh a gently shake.

Michelle inhaled deeply before reaching down and clapping her hand over his. "Stop that…," she said in a whisper. She struggled to speak as his touch sent unexpected sensations up and down her body – sensations she thought she'd never feel again.

"Hot Rod, you can't do that. You can't touch me there and… not like that," she said, lifting his hand from her thigh.

"Right, of course," he said, allowing her to remove his hand from her leg.

He had forgotten how highly sensitive humans were, especially females. He gazed at her with concern and found it hard to look away. He had clearly aroused her when he hadn't meant too and her reaction was captivating. He watched as her cheeks turned a soft red before she turned away to hide her reaction. Occasionally she shot him a sideways glance to see if he was still looking at her. He was.

"Hot Rod, you are making me nervous, could you stop that," she asked while looking out the passenger side window.

"I'm not scaring you, am I?" he asked. He didn't want her to be fearful of him. Part of him knew she was aroused but then part of him wondered if he may have frightened her a little too much.

"No, you're not scaring me. You just caught me a little off guard. What is going on here?" she asked finally turning slightly to face him and waving her arm towards him, indicating that she was referring to the image she was now seeing.

"This is my hologram. It allows me to take shape of the planets species to blend it better. I figured that this would be an appropriate time to use it," he said softly.

"Why do you feel so…real?" she asked curiously.

"It's a special upgraded hologram. We use to have just have hologram images that were only light particles but this form is more solid with other matters that allow us to appear more real.

"Lucky for me," she said sarcastically.

Hot Rod had almost forgotten about the police officer and turned just in time to see him approaching his driver side door. The tall officer bent down to get a better view the vehicles two occupant. Hot Rod shot him a smile.

"Hi there sir," he said cheerfully.

Michelle sighed, shaking her head at Hot Rod's happy little greeting. She snuck a quick glance at the officer trying to gage his current mood and probable response to his 'way to happy' offender.

She gave him a wave. "Hi there officer," she said nervously.

The officer was confused by the responses and worried that something else might be going on. "Is everything ok here?" he asked Michelle directly.

"Yes, everything is just fine, thank you," she responded.

"Officer, is there a problem?" Hot Rod asked curiously.

"Not really, I was just curious about your car. I've never seen a car like this before. Is this what they call a concept car?" the officer asked as his eyes darted around the interior.

Michelle watched him intently. She glanced at Hot Rod who seemed unsure of what a concept car was. She decided to help him out.

"Yes it is. We are just doing a quick test drive. You know how it in New Mexico. It's a great testing ground for cars like this," she said quickly.

"Well, why isn't covered then? Don't you worry that your competitors might have spies out here?" he asked.

"It _is_ disguised. We decided to try a sort of reverse tactic by making it stand out so much that they'd assume it's a diversion instead of an actual test car," she said. She smiled, proud that she was able to come up with something so clever. No way was the cop going to question that.

"Ok. Well guess you have to do what you have to do," he said. "By the way what is your name?" he asked glancing at Hot Rod.

"Hot Rod," he said with a smile. Michelle quickly stifled a laugh as Hot Rod turned to towards her. "Are you ok?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," she said avoiding Hot Rod's confused gaze. "I'm Michelle," she added, offering her name up to the officer before he could question Hot Rod any further.

The officer paused for a moment meeting Michelle's glare and subtle shake her head. "Hot…Rod?" he said slowly, "that's an interesting name. Well then, Hot…Rod and Michelle, I'll let you two continue on your way. Please drive safely." The officer turned and walked quickly back to his car.

The subtle exchange did not go un-noticed by Hot Rod and his interest was peaked. Was she hiding something? He slowly pulled back out onto the highway.

"Wow that was close," Michelle said with a sigh as she sat back in her seat. "I was a little worried when he pulled us over."

"Why would you be worried?" Hot Rod asked curiously, "And why did you laugh?"

"You just never know out in these parts when you'll come across a crooked cop or maybe someone impersonating a cop. As for laughing I didn't mean too. But when you introduced yourself as Hot Rod I couldn't help myself. I don't know of a single human named Hot Rod and I can only imagine what was going through his mind. I'm surprised he handled it so calmly," she said chuckling to herself.

"Hot Rod isn't a normal name? But you call cars Hot Rods, why wouldn't it then be considered a common name?" he asked.

Michelle wasn't quite sure how to explain it to him without having to explain other things first. "Well he may have thought you to be an arrogant male since most males don't usually ad the word 'hot' before their name. Hot can mean many different things to us such as, hot can mean hot to the touch, like it can cause pain. Or it could be something very attractive. It which case people would say 'wow that's a hot car' or something along those lines," she said, trying her best to make it as clear and simple as possible for him to understand.

"I see. Well I'll have to leave out the hot next time and just say Rod," he said. He understood what she was saying. "I should have been able to catch that slight oversight. I really needed to be more careful next time," he said with disappointment.

"You'll get the hang of it," she said, patting his dash board gently.

Michelle sat back and reached into her purse. She pulled out a small bottle of water before taking a sip. She had to admit, Hot Rod was growing on her.

Hot Rod felt her little pat as she relaxed into the seat. As much as he tried to relax he couldn't. Warnings were going off in his processors as he thought back to the exchange between Micelle and the officer. Once again he sifted through the vast information of the internet and discovered that females where also very good actresses and had the ability to get what they wanted by using their looks. Maybe she was just trying to help him out by getting the officer to leave them alone. He relaxed a little at his discovery but he had to know for sure she could be trusted. He thought of Jazz, the master saboteur. He was very skilled at getting into anyone's CPU or head in this case. Hot Rod had under gone some training with him. He decided to put it to use. He had done enough research on females to know that his looks with a little seduction could get him any information he needed. He brought up his hologram and glanced over at Michelle. She jumped slightly.

"I thought you were done with that," she sighed.

"I thought maybe I'd practice using it for a bit," he said, quickly coming up with an explanation that she might not question.

She nodded and smiled back innocently, oblivious to what he had just planned.

The desert sky grew dark as night descended upon them. A light wind began to pick up and created small tornados of dust that would occasional dance across their path. Hot Rod blasted past them as he sped down the road, heading in a northwesterly direction.

"I believe we just past the Arizona border but it is still some distant to Flagstaff. Why don't you rest a bit," he offered. He reached out and gently placed his hand on her leg, pretending to do so out of habit. He felt her tense up.

"Hot Rod…," she started to say but stopped short and paused, her lips parted slightly as she gazed up at him, "I don't think I can rest. I don't mean to be rude but the seat doesn't recline and I'm starting to feel a bit stiff from sitting so long." She took a deep breath as she looked away from him out the window.

"Maybe there's a motel we can stop at up the road," he paused seeing the confusion in Michelle's face. "Is everything alright?" he asked, the guilty creeping up on him.

"Yes. It's just…," she felt embarrassed at the inability to control or even hide her emotions. "…it's nothing. I'm fine."

Hot Rod looked away for a moment before turning back to her again and in doing so his movement accidentally forced his hand to slide up further on her leg, pushing the hem of her skirt along with it. Michelle quickly reached down and grasped his hand, lifting it away from her body as she turned to face him with a mixture of emotions, so many that he wasn't able to immediately label them.

Michelle felt his finger tips brush up against her body. Startled she grabbed his hand. Her heart raced as guilt and desire wrapped their fingers around her. There was silence between them as she held his hand suspended out from her. She hadn't been prepared for this.

"Hot Rod, what did I say about touching me like that," she said, breathing heavily. She had trouble focusing on anything and her eyes darted around the interior as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Michelle, you seemed confused?" he asked. He could see her resolve weakening. Now was the time to question her further. "Who are you really?" he asked as he held tightly on to her hand. The more he thought about it, the more he realized she really hadn't provided much information about herself.

Michelle stiffened with fear and tried to pull her hand away but he refused to let go. "I already told you my name," she said nervously.

"Yes, you told me your name but I know nothing about you. We were you going again and why?" he asked more firmly.

She sighed, averting her gaze down towards her legs. "I'm going to Flagstaff to visit a friend who I haven't seen in years. That's all," she responded as she looked back up at him. She squinted slightly as he stared at her with a gently and inviting gaze. He wasn't smiling but it wasn't anger either.

"Where are you from? Do you have a home?" he asked, leaning in closer to her. He noticed that she squinted when she was being evasive in her responses. Deep in his inner core he made a mental note on the profile he was collecting in regards to her behavior pattern.

He reached over with his free hand and carefully rested it on her knee while pulling her closer with his other hand. He felt her warm quick breaths against his face as the sensors of his hologram registered each little molecule of carbon dioxide while his touch gathered her pulse rate and temperature.

She sat frozen in the seat. Guilt racked her body as every nerve screamed to be touched. "I….," but she couldn't finish. Through a plan to distract and desire she could no longer control, she leaned in and kissed his soft lips. Pressing firmly as she opened her mouth against his. It was the only thing she could think of doing to avoid further questioning. She told her self it was all part of the job, a job that she now seemed to be enjoying a little too much. The moment seemed to last forever before reality came rushing back into her psyche. She quickly pulled away.

"I can't do this," she said, rubbing her wrist across her furrowed brow as she breathed heavily. She glanced up briefly, as if praying to God for help, before turning back to face Hot Rod. "I have a boyfriend. I'm just taking a break from him. I needed to get away to think about our relationship. It's all stuff you wouldn't understand," she spouted out without so much as a breath and waving her hand at him before turning to stare out the window. "There are you happy now," she snapped. She took several deep breaths while she reached up to move a few stray hairs from her face.

Hot Rod was still skeptical. Her vitals indicated she wasn't being completely honest but decided to play along. Maybe she was telling him part of the truth but didn't trust him enough to tell him the rest. He turned off his hologram and moved silently along the road.

Michelle was relieved to have the hologram gone. She rubbed her hand against her hair before resting her head against the window.

"I detect a motel ahead. We can stop there and rest for the night," Hot Rod said. He felt bad for causing his human friend stress. "Michelle, I'm sorry for interrogating you but you had me concerned. I was told by my commander that the Decepticons weren't the only ones I needed to watch out for. I hope you understand."

"It's ok Hot Rod. You have to do what you have to do to protect yourself," she said, the exhaustion apparent in her voice.

They came quickly up to a sign that directed them down a smaller winding road. It wasn't too far off the main highway before they came upon a small building. There were very few cars parked out front. Hot Rod pulled up in front of the office so Michelle could get out and get herself a room. She did so quickly. Once she had paid he drove her over to the room where he parked out front to keep watch till morning.

"You going to hang out here?" she asked before stepping out.

"Yup, I'll be here. A promise is a promise. I'm taking you to Flagstaff like I said," he said.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning then," she said. She carefully stepped out and shut his door, walking over to her room. She entered, only looking back briefly, before leaving him alone.

He setup his monitors as he prepared to go into recharge. Just as he was about to go offline one of his sensor alarms went off. He was picking up a remote Cybertronian message. He adjusted his sensors to pick up a clearer signal. It took only a second before the voice of Scapper came through in a series of mechanical tones and clicks. He listened intently, recording it away in his memory. He fuel lines ran cold as he listened to their plans for earth and the annihilation of its inhabitants. Worry took hold as he learned that he was the lone Autobot on earth. He knew he had to contact his fellow Autobots and warn them of the situation on earth.

Quietly he pulled away from the motel and drove further down the road, deeper into the desert to find a more secluded place. He prepared his message and could only hope it would reach his commander in time.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please, please review.


	3. Suspicions

**Disclaimer**: _'Transformers' belongs to Hasbro, Paramount and various other companies – characters from the film or any related merchandise do not belong to me and I am making no money out of this fiction from the characters or plot. Any original characters and ideas do belong to me and require permission to use elsewhere._

**Rated T**

**Author's Note: **Ok this chapter is coming quicker than I normally publish. But between Bold Destiny and this one a lot is happening. And I have it pretty much written out for the next several chaps. I just have to proof and re work a little bit. Please, please, please leave a review.

* * *

"**Suspicions"**

* * *

Michelle stepped inside the room and closed the door softly against the pressure of the wind. She leaned up against the door to catch her breath. Resting her head back before closing her eyes she inhaled deeply, overwhelmed from all that had just happened. After taking a moment to collect herself she turned to peak out the window next to the door. Carefully she pulled back the drape just enough to see outside. Hot Rod had backed out and was pulling forward, leaving towards some unknown destination. Worry took hold of her before remembering his promise to take her to Flagstaff. For reason's should couldn't explain, she trusted him and trusted that he meant what he said. Her eyes followed the bright orange and red sports car as he headed towards the exit of the parking lot. He seemed to glow in the darkness from the bright colors. As he pulled out and drove off, a large black SUV, parked near the exit of the motel parking lot, caught her attention. She stared at it and thought of how out of place it seemed. Barely noticeable movements could be seen from the vehicles occupants.

'_Why are they just sitting there?' _she thought to herself.

Her thoughts where interrupted as a police car pulled in where Hot Rod had exited moments earlier. She watched as it drove slowly past the line of motel rooms, as if he were looking for someone. Michelle grew nervous. This was a dive of a motel, secluded and run down, a perfect place for criminals or those hiding from the law. She glanced at the dirt along the rim of window sill. She shivered at the thought of what sort of small bugs might be crawling around in the bed. The police car never stopped and, eventually, disappeared from view as it drove past the motel office. She assumed he must be just checking things out or looking for a specific vehicle.

Michelle turned away from the window and walked over to the bed. She flopped down onto the hard mattress, depleted of all energy. As she lay there, a flood of emotions seeped into her conscious mind, unable to stay away. What had she done? The guilt wracked her very being. She wasn't supposed to feel what she felt, or so she thought, not when she was in love with someone else. How was it that an alien with some sort of hologram could provoke such desire, so much so that it forced her to question a relationship that she would do anything for, including risk her life? She loved her boyfriend and wondered what he was doing at this very moment. What was he feeling? Was he scared or worried for her? Or even worse, was he hurt? Here she lay, trying to smother lust filled desires for a stranger while he was in danger. She closed her eyes to the pain and confusion as tears rolled down her cheeks.

For several long minutes she lay there, trying to clear her mind enough to sleep but sleep never came. The memory of Hot Rods kiss lingered heavily amongst all the others. She ran her tongue across her lips at the thought, wetting them lightly, before bolting upright in frustration.

She reached over to her purse and pulled out a small pill bottle a friend had given her for situations such as this.

'_You will need these_,' she could here her friend say, her voice echoing through her mind.

Michelle stood up and walked over to the small sink and filled a glass of water before taking several pills. She had never taken sleeping pills before and wasn't sure how long it would take before she would feel their affect. Quickly, she walked back over to the bed and lay down. But just as her head hit the pillow her eyes snapped open. She suddenly remembered, she was supposed to call her friend to let her know her location for the night. It was a safety measure they had both come up with while she was on the road. If she didn't call soon, her friend would send the cavalry out searching for her. She reached over and grabbed the phone receiver next to the bed but there was no dial tone. She pushed the button down several times to see if it was simple malfunction but still no dial tone. She sat there for a moment listening to the wind howling out side.

'_I'd better hurry before the storm gets any worse,_' she thought to herself. Grabbing her purse she stood and walked towards the door, opening it slightly.

Small gusts of wind swirled around the parking lot, kicking up clouds of dust and debris. Glancing around, she noticed a phone booth across the parking under a flickering street lamp. It was quite a distance but she knew she had to make that call. Taking a breath she took off at a jog towards the phone booth. The wind whipped at the hem of her skirt sending it flittering wildly about. The inky darkness made it hard to see as the heavy storm clouds obscured any light from the moon. She let out a sigh of relief when she reached her destination. She glanced over at the SUV. It was still there but now she was unable to tell if it was still occupied.

She reached into her purse, her fingers fumbled along the bottom, searching for any loose change. With little effort she found more than she needed and fed the coins into the dirt covered machine before dialing the series of numbers her friend had given her.

"Hey," she heard from the other end.

"Wow that was quick," said Michelle, surprised that her friend had answered so quickly.

"I was worried about you. You usually call earlier. I can't tell you what was going through my mind," her friend said, the worry evident in her voice.

"Well, I'm ok. I'm in good hands. I'll tell you more when I see you next. So don't worry, ok?" responded Michelle, trying her best to calm her friends fears.

There was short pause before her friend responded. "Fine, but…just call me earlier next time…OK," she said quietly.

"I will. I've got to go, there's a storm brewing….," but Michelle was cut off by a sudden explosion as it rocked the earth beneath her. She reached for the edge of the phone booth to steady herself as she watched half the motel, and the room she had just been in, disintegrate into a fiery ball of smoke that rose quickly into the night sky.

She let out a scream of panic. Through the smoke stepped an enormous dark figure. She looked up in horror as it brought its giant mechanical foot down onto the ground below with a deafening thud while it scanned the parking lot with its red eyes.

Michelle could here her friend's muffled screams from the phone receiver as she quickly hung it up, hoping that the giant robot hadn't heard the noise.

Suddenly, a crack of thunder rattled the night as veins of electricity snaked across the sky. Large drops of rain began to fall, slowly at first but then quickening into a torrential down pour of cold liquid. It quickly soaked her light dress. The robot seemed to be put off by the rain and retreated slightly. He turned around as if he were looking for something behind him.

She took the opportunity to turn and run across the street and into the forest of pine trees behind her. Blindly she ran, stiff branches whipped at her, leaving streaks of red from small cuts left in their wake. She ran frantically away from giant dark figure above the motel while several more explosions echoed through the forest. The rain had soaked the ground creating a soupy mixture of spongy soft earth out of the dust and dried pine needles. She jumped down a small incline but landed on an uneven slope. The earth gave way, causing her to loose her footing. She fell hard as her head slammed into a small rock. Breathing heavily, Michelle lay weakened and dazed. Tears of pain formed and mixed with rain on her cheeks. Slowly her eye lids grew heavy and she gave in to the exhaustion as she drifted off into a numbing deep sleep.

* * *

Hot Rod pulled slowly out of the parking lot, moving in the opposite direction of the two lane road that led him and Michelle to the secluded motel. But he didn't get very far. A nagging feeling trickled through his circuits. His sensors picked up a faint spark pulse but it was barely registering. He scanned the area around the motel, just up the hill from where he had now stopped. He registered two vehicles, one that had been there when he left and another moving along the front of the motel. He watched the moving vehicle on his scanner. Eventually, it came to the end of the motel but instead of turning back onto the road it made its way around the back. This peaked Hot Rod's interest.

Hot Rod turned around and started to drive back when he discovered a gravel access road leading up to the back of the motel. He drove up the road, being cautious of his low body profile in his chosen alt form. Rocks would occasional scrape his underside as he made his way over small dips and large rocks protruding from the well worn tire path.

When he was close enough, he stopped to watched the vehicle. It was a police car. And that car had now stopped at the entrance of the access road. Without warning, Hot Rods sensor alarms went off as the police car transformed. Barricade stood facing the lone Autobot as he pulled his weapon out of subspace and took aim.

Hot Rod had already transformed with his weapon drawn. They stood facing each other in a stand off. Hot Rod scanned the area behind Barricade hoping for signs of human life. His pulled the cool night air in through his intakes as he picked up Michelle's heat signature as she walked across the motel parking lot. He knew he wouldn't have much time.

"Ah, just what I've been looking for. You are wanted by our supreme leader, Autobot," growled Barricade.

"Not a chance," Hot Rod snapped back.

"Then you will die," spat Barricade.

Hot Rod barely gave him a chance to finish as he fired at Barricade. The force of his blast knocked Barricades arm down, accidently causing Barricade to discharge his weapon into the motel behind him. Hot Rod froze in horror.

"NO!" he yelled as he scrambled up the dirt road towards Barricade who was taking aim for a second time.

Drops of rain began pounding his exterior shell as the clouds above unleashed their own fury on the clashing robots below. Hot Rod began to raise his weapon but it was too late. Barricade had already taken aim but as he fired an explosion hit him from behind, rattling his body and throwing him off balance. Barricade's aim was thrown off course, narrowly missing Hot Rod. Barricade turned to see where the explosion had come from just in time to see a fleeing black vehicle. Angry, he took aim and fired. The explosion sent the SUV into the air before it came crashing down in a fiery ball of twisted metal.

Hot Rod noticed Michelle run across the street and into the forest. He needed to pull Barricade away from that forest and what remained of the motel. He fired again at the distracted Decepticon, hitting him in the side and sending him crashing to the ground. But before Hot Rod could reach him, Barricade had transformed and sped off down the road. Hot Rod's instinct was to pursue and destroy but the thought that Michelle could be hurt stopped him.

He knew Michelle had run into the forest but without help she would be susceptible to the deteriorating conditions of the weather. She hadn't been prepared and was only covered by light material. He had to find her and make sure she hadn't been injured in the fight between him and Barricade.

He glanced around for any signs of life near the motel but there was none. He felt terrible for the loss of human life. As he began to cross the road he stopped and glanced over at the burning remains of the SUV. He had remembered the explosion from behind Barricade. Did it come from this vehicle? He zoomed in with his night vision and examined the wreckage. To his surprise he registered a device that resembled a weapon. He ran the information through his database and was able to determine it had been some form of rocket launcher. Why were they armed? It had only taken seconds to gather information from the wreckage. He stored it away and proceeded off into the thinly scatter Pine forest.

Picking his way through the tiny dark trees he scanned the forest floor for any heat signatures. He didn't have to travel far before he found Michelle, her heat signature barely visible.

He reached down and found her unconscious. This concerned him and he immediately searched for a diagnoses. He gently scooped up her limp and cold body, her wet dress clinging to her every curve. He was amazed at how her bag of necessary items managed to always stay put around her arm. With gentle agility, he transformed around her and placed her in the passenger seat. He flipped on his hologram.

He had to get her wet covering off to warm her body. He reached over, and while supporting her with one arm, leaned her forward so he could pull her dress up from underneath her. His next obstacle was the thin metal locking device on the back of her covering which he quickly discovered was called a 'zipper'. He unzipped the zipper as he had learned from instructions found on the internet. With great effort, he managed to peel the wet dress off her body and over her head. Human covering when wet were like small suction devices, making them difficult to remove. His chosen alt mode didn't make matters any easier with its small front seat area.

He contemplated on whether he should remove the additional coverings she had on under her dress. However, through earlier researched he remembered that it would not be wise to remove such items, since in some humans exposing the reproductive areas of the body could cause distress. He didn't want to take his chances. Removing the bulk of what was causing her temperature to drop was good enough.

Hot Rod adjusted his hologram, so that the upper torso of his image no longer wore coverings. After turning up the heat in some of the hologram particles he would be able to provide something that resembled warm skin. He reached over and pulled Michelle over onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close into his bare chest. Being careful of her reproductive area, ran his free hand over her arms and legs to stimulate and warm her body.

As he sat there, his sensors became aware of each new sensation that was created from holding a human in his arms. He had never been as physically close to any human as he had with Michelle. Dark, wet tendrils of her hair lay draped across the bicep of the arm that supported her. Water slowly dripped down from each strand causing a sort of tickling feeling along his arm and down his body. As her body warmed so did his, even more so than before and he found that he could conserve the energy he was using on his hologram by taking in the energy from her body.

All night Hot Rod sat, patiently warming her as she slept, resisting the urge to wake her after knowing all that she had been through. He examined every curve and movement. He watched her chest slowly rise and fall as the shadows from his dash board cast tantalizing glows across her smooth stomach. He found it amazing how within her body was a system so advanced that it could create more like her.

"We need something like that," he mumbled softly to himself.

* * *

The morning sunlight seeped in through the branches of the pine trees, warming Hot Rod's steel exterior. Michelle felt the warm skin of a muscular chest pressed up against her back. She moaned in delight, for she knew that all she had gone through was just a dream, a very bad dream. Keeping her eyes closed, so as to enjoy every deliciously sensual moment of her boyfriends body, she ran her hand down his leg, feeling his strong hard muscular leg beneath his jeans. She moaned again feeling the pleasure growing from within as she slowly brought her hand up his leg to the area she most desired. She arched her back and adjusted her body so her hand could easily reach beneath her. She opened her mouth and let out a sigh of pleasure as she came near the prize.

"Oh Ssss…," she began to say but was abruptly cut off. Her body settled softly against warm leather as the feeling of her boyfriends body disappeared beneath her.

Her eyes snapped open, blinking furiously to clear her vision. The morning light was blinding.

"What the …..Where am I?" she groaned as she sat upright in the drivers' seat of Hot Rod.

"You're with me," Hot Rod responded. "You know the giant alien robot who stepped on your minivan."

And she remembered with a vengeance. Her face grew red at the thought of what Hot Rod must have heard while she dreamt of her boyfriend. She adjusted nervously in her seat causing her bare skin to rub up against the smooth leather. She jerked in surprise.

"I'm naked!" she yelled startled. "Where are my clothes?" She glanced around the interior in panic, searching for her dress before she spotted it, lying across his dash.

"Calm down, Michelle!" Hot Rod said firmly back, trying to get her attention. "You were unconscious when I found you and your body temperature was dangerously low. I did what I needed to do to save you. I used my hologram to warm you and I was careful not to violate your body. So just relax."

It took her a moment to absorb what he said and for her to get over her initial shock of being naked while in the arms of an alien's hologram.

"I'm sorry Hot Rod. Thank you. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable….with…well…anything I may have done. I'm sorry...I thought you were….someone else," she said haltingly.

"You can relax. I made sure I turned off the hologram before you did anything you may have regretted," he said.

She could have sworn she detected a slight chuckle in his response.

"Well then, thank you for that too. If you don't mind I need to step outside to put my dress on. It's a bit cramped in here," she said, reaching over and pulling her stiffly dried dress off the dash board.

She stepped outside as the cool morning air surrounded her bare skin. She inhaled deeply taking in the fresh air. Giving her dress a quick shake she flung off any dust or forest debris before pulling it over her head and zipping it up.

Now that she was out side, Hot Rod transformed, rising up above the top of the pine trees. He checked the surrounding area and found they weren't far off from the road. The smoldering remains of the motel lay eerily silent but wreckage of the SUV was no where in sight.

"Odd," he muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Michelle responded from below.

"Oh nothing," he said. He reached down and picked Michelle up.

Michelle caught her breath as she clung to his fingers. "What are you doing?" she said in one breath. "I'm not good with heights."

"I'm just moving you over to the road. Don't worry, we won't travel this way. I'll transform back into my vehicle form for you," he said assuredly. He set her down gently on the road.

Michelle turned in horror at what was left of the motel. She shivered as she remembered how close to death she had come. The memory of the giant robot stepping through the smoke remained vivid.

"Hot Rod," she asked as she slid into the passenger seat, "what did this?"

"It was a Decepticon named Barricade," he said. He felt her tense up in the seat. "Don't worry though; I won't let anything happen to you. I'm afraid; however, he was only injured and not destroyed. I'm sure he will go back to report my sighting to the others. We need to get as far away from this location as possible before it's too late."

"Barricade?" she muttered. She shivered again at the thought.

"Yes, his chosen form is a police car and, apparently, he has found some way to mute or cloak is spark pulse. I had trouble detecting him till it was too late," Hot Rod said sullenly.

"You guys can detect each others presence?" She asked again.

"Yes," he responded.

"You seem to be able to detect a lot of different things," she said softly.

"Yes….yes I can," he said, knowing that she must feel exposed, knowing that he could read her emotions so readily.

As he proceeded down the road he thought back to that moment she lay in his lap, her hand wandering with determination along his leg. It had taken every ounce of energy to control the new feeling that was coursing through his circuits. It came to a point where he no longer could sustain his hologram without loosing control. The imagines of what a human male does to the female flashed through is memory core as his hologram nearly took on a life of its own. He had no other choice but to shut it down. The new upgraded hologram was only supposed to emulate the physical form and all its senses. Obviously the creator did not anticipate what emulating senses could do to a mechs evolving CPU. He will have to be more conscious next time.

Sitting silently in the seat, Michelle ran the previous night events through her head, over and over before she had remembered her friend, left in suspense on the phone amidst the chaos of alien destruction. She must be worried sick over what she heard through the phone last night.

"Hot Rod, I have to stop at the next rest stop or gas station or whatever," she said. "I feel like I need to clean up a bit and I have to use the bathroom….bad."

"Sure, there's a small gas station up a head about a mile. But you have to hurry. We haven't been on the road very long and I want to make enough distance between us and my last known location. We can't risk another Decepticon attack, especially near more populated areas," he said with urgency.

Hot Rod opted out of traveling back on the main highway for fear of another Decepticon attack. Not only would he have to watch out for himself but he'd put many more innocent lives at risk. Trying to keep track of humans who were not only afraid of dying but afraid of him would be far too difficult.

At the gas station Michelle stepped out of Hot Rod and trotted quickly inside. She walked slowly back to the bathrooms while looking around to see if she was alone.

The image in the bathroom mirror stopped her cold. Her hair was in total disarray with twigs and leaves tangled amongst the dark strands. She leaned in closer to rub dried mascara from her cheek before she noticed a large black and blue bruise, mixed with a tinge of red, high up on her forehead. She flinched as she reached up and touched it. What she wouldn't give for a shower right now. Quickly, she turned on the water and splashed the cool soothing liquid on her face, washing away the blood, dirt and makeup. She pulled a small brush from her purse and tried her best to straighten and clean her hair. After spending a satisfying amount of time making her self feel somewhat presentable, she came out of the bathroom.

She approached the gas station clerk nervously while eyeing him flirtatiously. He seemed to be her age, lanky and tall, with light wavy brown hair. He gazed back nervously.

"Can I help you ma'am?" he offered.

"Yes, I was wondering if I could use your phone?" she said sweetly.

"Well, there's a pay phone just outside the door. You could use that," he offered, as he squirmed uncomfortably under the glare of her inviting blue eyes.

She had to think fast. "Well, I'm out of change and you see that car out there, well my boyfriend is in there and he's watching me. He would be really irritated and suspicious, not that he has a reason to be, of me making a phone call to my girlfriend," she said smiling seductively at him.

He swallowed hard. "Girlfriend?" was all he could say.

"Yes, girlfriend…. She misses me…you know. And well, I miss her too," she said leaning in slightly.

"Right well, ok…here," he said quickly picked up the cordless phone and handing it over to her.

"Thanks, I hope you don't mind but I need a little privacy," she yelled as she walked back towards the bathrooms.

"No problem," he yelled back.

She pushed the green button for a dial tone and dialed in the sequence of numbers to reach her friend.

When she heard her friend, she spoke first. "I'm alright," she whispered quickly, "Don't say anything. I just want you to know I'm safe."

Michelle heard her friend struggling to hold back tears as a few sniffles could be heard.

"Michelle, we lost some people last night," her friend said softly as her voice quivered.

"No," Michelle whispered back as she held back her own tears. "I'm so sorry."

"Where are you?" her friend asked with fear in her voice.

"I'm not sure. I think I'm in Arizona, somewhere up near the four corners. But I don't know for sure. Once I find out, I'll let you know. But please don't worry. Tell the other's I'm fine and everything is still on track," she whispered back.

"I don't like this," said her friend in frustration. "You shouldn't be doing this, it should be someone else."

"No," Michelle yelled out loud before catching her self. She gave the clerk a smile and waved at him as he glanced worriedly at her. "I'm staying, I'm doing this. Like I said I'll be fine." Michelle hung up quickly not giving her friend a chance to question her any further. She brought the phone back to the clerk and left with a swift thank you in her wake.

"Do you feel better," Hot Rod asked as she sat down.

"Fine...I'd feel even better if I had a bath and some clean clothes," she said casually as she buckled her seat belt.

"Well, I don't know about clean clothes but I'm sure we can manage to find a way for you to clean your body," he said. He sensed Michelle tense up. "My mapping system is picking up a large body of water in this region."

"Oh?" she said. "Well, as long as it's private and you feel it's safe, I'm ok with that." She wasn't really but she was willing to say whatever it took to get him away from this store and back on the road.

Hot Rod decided he needed to keep Michelle with him for as long as it took to find out who she really was. He had been monitoring the area when he picked up her phone call and found her conversation to be suspicious. Who was this friend of hers? He tried to trace the phone signal but it seemed to be untraceable after a certain point but not before he traced it to several call points across this planet, with the last one originated from Moscow, Russia.

She was definitely hiding something and he needed to find out what it was.

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